Chapter 2: Unpleasant encounters
This day can't possibly get any worse.
First, I missed my bus stop.
Then I got pushed into a well by a strange man.
And now I'm in a world that's, most definitely, not my own.
This has to be a dream, a nightmare. A terrible one. I want to believe this but lucid dreaming isn't really my parade.
A light knock sounded from my door.
"Come in!" I shouted.
A petite maid walked in through the door, looking so nervous she might pee her pants. "Um...my lady, it's time for your bath." They have scheduled baths? That's not weird at all...
"Oh, uh, sure. Where is the bathroom?" I asked, "If you don't mind."
"Right this way, my lady." I followed close behind the maid as she led me through fancy hallways filled with beautiful paintings of what looks like nobles. The bathroom she led me into was huge, almost bigger than the bedroom. It took all my might to not let out a 'woooow'.
I was about to undress when I noticed that she had stepped inside and stood waiting by the door, "Sorry, could you leave?" A shocked expression made it's way on to her face.
"A-are you not in need of my help? You usually enjoy our help, lady Blankley." Jacelyn enjoyed someone helping me bathe? Was she a weirdo?
And Blankley, the name that Lilith said was my surname seemed familiar. Then it struck me. Oh shoot. The book, that terrible book, the main character had the same surname, her name was Jane. But she had a twin sister named Jacelyn. Everything was the same, the description of Jacelyns room and the hallway. Her, or my, looks were also the same as they described her in the book. The maid, Lilith, was also in the book as Jane's best friend, everything about her was the same as well.
"No, y-yeah, you can go." She bowed and left, closing the door behind her and giving me the space I'd been craving since arriving in this...world.
I took off my clothes and sat down in the huge tub, letting the warm water enfold me.
The sister of Jane, me, was said to be a cruel and spoiled woman who enjoyed torturing her servants. Jane and the servants get their revenge on Jacelyn halfway into the book though by putting something in her makeup that made her face terribly scarred. I know, cruel right? But it get's worse, in the end Jacelyn tries to get revenge by putting poison in Janes drink but fails because the male lead figures it out and sentences her to death. So long story short, I am undoubtedly going to die.
Unless...
If I can change my fate then I can change how the whole story plays out! I might be able to change the script since I know it, unlike everybody else in this world. I even know how the war plays out, and how I can use that for my advantage.
If I fail and I end up getting hung, I would end up living out the same fate Jacelyn was given but she was mean and clumsy, I'm not. I have to gain as many allies as possible before the storyline starts, which based off my looks, have to be about two years away.
I finished up bathing and dried myself off with a towel that had been at the top on a high shelf. How do I get back to my room? The bathroom was so far away and I don't think I can go there in just a towel since these people probably will think it's shameful. "Umm, maid?" I called out to receive a reply half a second later, "Yes, Miss?" She must've been waiting right outside. "Could I get some clothing?" I was blushing out of embarrassment that I didn't know how to act since these people think that I'd grown up in this world.
"Of course, should I get your favorite dress?" She said. Favorite dress? Oh god, please let Jacelyn have a good fashion sense. I don't want to be stuck looking like The Blob. "Uh, sure."
I heard the clicking of heels hurrying through the big fancy hallway outside. After five minutes the maid knocked on the door. "Miss? May I enter?" I secured the big towel tightly around me. "Yeah, you can come in." She pushed the door open carefully and stepped inside.
The dress she was carrying was a beautiful knee long gown, the color of the top of the dress matched the room I woke up in, and the bottom was with with flowy sleeves cut off at the elbows. Guess I know Jacelyn's favorite color now.
I sighed a breath of relief, at least she doesn't seem to have bad taste. The maid left after handing me the dress and white stockings.
It was a bit...difficult to figure out how to put it on since the dress wasn't like the usual simple ones at home, even the stockings were strange. I grunted in frustration. "How can this be so hard? It's a fridging dress, I've worn tons of these, come on!"
A knock sounded from outside. "My lady? Are you in need of assistance?" The maid asked from the other side of the door, people really had no boundaries here. After I finally got the dress on it was insanely uncomfortable, who is twisted enough to make a dress like this? Pennywise? Hannibal? Walking made it even more uncomfortable.
The maid was waiting right outside the bathroom and I walked behind her as we made our way through the beautiful hallways towards my room and I was shocked to see Lilith standing in the middle of it.
The smile I gave Lilith was way wider than normal and obviously fake but she was too surprised to notice it since she was used to the old Jacelyn. Obviously not knowing that Jacelyn was no longer Jacelyn. "Hi, Lilith!" I greeted her to which she bowed slightly to and moved the chair she was standing behind a bit backwards, asking me to sit down and I did just so. I looked behind me to thank the other maid for taking me here but when I looked behind me she was gone. Weird...
"Hello, my lady. How would you like me to do your hair today? The usual?" Lilith kindly asked with a bright smile playing upon her lips. Jacelyn had a good taste in clothes so maybe she has a good taste in hair as well? "Umm, can you just put a ribbon in it? Please?"
"But you have to be ready for the ball this evening, lady Blankley." She insisted. I gasped. Ball? Ball?! Oh fridge, the last thing I went to that was even slightly similar to a ball was prom and that was probably a bit more...wild than this ball will be since I don't think this one will involve getting drunker than an Irish man. I sighed, "Is there any way I can skip this ball?" She frowned deeply, "But, my lady, you always seem enjoy dancing." Which sane person likes to dance?
"Yes, but I don't feel like it today, I just woke up. And just do my hair down, please."
My lady, as a noble you shouldn't say 'Please' to me, I'm just a maid. I don't want you to feel embarrassed when your memory returns." She means when the real Jacelyn returns so I can go home again. Back to my real mother and father.
I didn't know how to answer so I smiled and nodded towards her.
"Look, all done! You look beautiful as always." A part of my hair was tied up with a navy blue ribbon and the other part was just brushed so my wavy hair was left naturally. I smiled up at her and she gave me a smile back before excusing herself with a little bow and then leaving.
The other maid...the way she'd been acting around me was as if she feared me, a child. Jacelyn must've been worse than a spoiled brat. They really seem to be scared of me here...
My sweet tooth was screaming for some sugar. I wonder where the kitchen is? Should I go down and look? Am I allowed to?
Jacelyn and Janes father, the duke, never kept them under a tight leash but they had always favored Jane because of her positive personality, although they never hurt Jacelyn they kept clear of her. And nobody pitied her since she was so cruel to everybody. They didn't even pity her when she was hung, some would even say her final fate was karma.
I shuddered, I have to stop thinking about this gruesome stuff or else I'll go insane. Maybe I could just sneak down to the kitchen for just a second? Nobody would know. I peaked out the door before walking out the door, I don't want to meet anyone Jacelyn knew since they might realise something's wrong because I won't recognize them and I'll act different.
Ugh, where is this kitchen? It was more difficult than I thought to find a kitchen in this huge mansion. I was left admiring the gorgeous paintings again on the walls, and maybe I was admiring them too intensely because the next thing I knew was falling down the stairs. I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I closed my eyes tightly, awaiting the fall the same way I had done at the well, but in the same way it had then, the fall never came. I opened my eyes and noticed that I was frozen in the air! "You know, you really should be more careful." What in the...?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone